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Standard Missile: Snapshots in Time Captured by Previous Digest Articles Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Volume 34, Number 2 (2018), www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest 119 Standard Missile: Snapshots in Time Captured by Previous Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest Articles Neil F. Palumbo Standard Missile (SM) is the cornerstone of ship-based weapons designed to defend the U.S. Navy Fleet from air- craft and anti-ship missiles, as well as to defend military land assets and population centers from ballistic missile threats. Unlike traditional ship-based gun systems, which are short-range and generally project a shell along a ballistic trajectory toward a target, SM is a guided missile that can deliver a munition rapidly and precisely to the target with a high probability of killing the threat, generally at relatively long range. It provides an effective means to conduct a wide variety of military missions. For SM, these missions include anti-ship cruise missile defense, ballistic missile defense, and defeat of enemy missile launch platforms. The article by Oliver and Sweet recounts SM history and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Labora- tory (APL) contributions to SM development from the Bumblebee program beginning in the mid-1940s through 1981, the year the article was written. The article dis- cusses the evolution of the Terrier and Tartar missile lines into the SM-1 Extended-Range (ER) and SM-1 Medium- Range (MR) missiles, respectively, driven by a desire for interchangeable missile components. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the primary threats to the Fleet comprised attack aircraft and anti-ship missiles. However, by the late 1970s, the first incarnations of both SM-2 MR and ER variants were being tested and readied for deployment to address even more challenging high-velocity and high- altitude missile threats. Moreover, in 1981, all SMs were launched from trainable rail launchers, but the develop- ment of the SM vertical launching system (VLS) was well under way. Today, the U.S. Fleet employs the MK 41 VLS to launch SM (and other missile variants), with the more flexible MK 57 VLS in development. A 2001 article by Montoya again recounts SM history and APL contributions but with an additional 20 years of experience and perspective. SM-2 Blocks III/IIIA/IIIB (MR variants) were deployed to defend against the ever-more capable anti-ship missiles proliferating throughout the world, and the SM-2 Block IV (ER variant) was in low-rate production to serve as the baseline for the family of SMs that support the new ballistic missile defense and future the- ater air and missile defense needs. Also, in the mid-1990s, ballistic missile threats were proliferating and becoming more capable, and the U.S. Navy exo-atmospheric inter- ceptor development was, hence, just getting started. The Terrier Lightweight Exo-atmospheric Projectile (LEAP) flight tests in 1994 and 1995 gave confidence that the pro- gram was on the right course and should be continued. At the time the article was written in 2001, a new LEAP concept, designated SM-3 and based on an Aegis launch and support system, was in development. At the time, no one could have predicted the impressive accomplishments that were to be achieved within the SM-3 program, with APL as a key member of the development team. While SM-4 never entered production and the SM-2 Block IVA program was canceled prior to the completion of develop- ment, the ER anti-air warfare interceptor, SM-6, based on aspects of the SM-2 Block IV and Block IVA designs, has been developed and deployed. SM-6 was approved for full- rate production in May 2013 and, on November 27, 2013, achieved initial operating capability when it was fielded on board USS Kidd. The program has spawned other highly successful programs, including the Sea-Based Terminal program for endo-atmospheric ballistic missile defense and the Naval Integrated Fire Control – Counter Air capability. Over the past 75 years, SM has evolved from its ori- gins in the Bumblebee program to the premier family of surface-to-air guided missiles, defending the Navy against aircraft, anti-ship cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. Over that same period, APL has been a constant leader in SM’s development and evolution. APL’s expertise in the research, development, integration, testing, and deploy- ment of guided missiles is a key reason for the program’s success. As SM continues to advance in the face of evolv- ing threats, APL will remain a key technical leader in its development and mission success.
